By John Garvey, President
CatholicU, Spring 2019

After more than two years of construction, the University officially reopened Maloney Hall in January as the new home of the Busch School of Business.

The 61,000-square-foot building began as a chemical laboratory in 1917, with a gift of $120,000 from Martin Maloney. He gave another $100,000 in 1923–24 for construction of what is now the Della Ratta Auditorium. Thanks to more than $20 million in recent gifts the building has undergone extensive renovation to become the Gothic-chic facility you see today.

Maloney Hall retains the iconic Gothic exterior that Bishop Thomas Shahan, the fourth rector of the University, decreed for some of the oldest buildings on campus, including Gibbons Hall and Father O’Connell Hall (formerly Graduate Hall). Inside, accents of the old style have been preserved alongside Silicon Valley technology and business school ideas gathered from around the world. Glass-encased study pods, bright and open common spaces, “smart” classrooms, and a 273-seat auditorium invite collaboration and community.

The heart of the building is the St. Michael the Archangel Chapel. Designed by Studio Granda Architects, the chapel has stunning original artwork and stained-glass windows. (All are featured in the cover story on pages 24–33.)

Maloney Hall’s opening falls in the midst of several large-scale facilities projects the University has underway. These include the extensive energy renewal project snaking clockwise around the campus as we install below-grade hot and chilled water piping. The energy project will improve the efficiency and reliability of utilities on campus, reducing energy consumption and saving money. We are set to complete Phase I this summer. We’ll finish Phase II in fall 2020. 

Other projects include a pedestrian walkway at the campus entrance across from the Metro on John McCormack Road. We opened Carlini Field, a competitive-grade turf field north of the DuFour Athletic Center, this spring. And we have announced plans for a new dining hall on the north end of the quad defined by the Pryzbyla University Center and the Columbus School of Law. It was made possible by an anonymous donation of $6 million and is projected to open in 2021. 

We’ve been working to provide more lab space in the schools of Nursing and Engineering, a key recommendation made by our faculty last spring. The Gowan Integrated Learning Center was completed before Thanksgiving. It provides testing/learning lab space for approximately 50 nursing students. In Pangborn Hall, we will convert the former library into open lab and maker space for our engineering students.

While these projects have caused temporary disruptions to campus life, and at times it can seem that we will never rid ourselves of dump trucks and chain fencing, it’s good to celebrate the projects that do end. The opening of Maloney Hall is a good occasion for that. I encourage all of you to stop by and admire the new home of the Busch School, and please pardon the construction.